Bees

We are working on a pro bono basis establishing a Beekeeping and small agriculture training facilitiy in Association with CHOICE charity on the banks of the Bassac a little south of Phnom Penh. The facility will be for the exclusive use of the CHOICE honey producer’s cooperative, and focus on Poverty Alleviation through beekeeping, and later; improved poultry husbandry, and small scale fish cultivation.

So far, all hives are built along the lines of Langstroth hives, but I intend to trial top bar hives as more suitable for use by local people due to a much lesser cost.

Most settled Khmer village areas have sufficient floral diversity to support bees.

Some commercial crops that can produce good honey include sugar palms, coconut plantations, banana and rubber plantations, lychee, longan,coffee, and many other trees can produce good seasonal crops of honey.

If you see honey for sale from local native bees “khmom Prey” it is a good indication that the area is a good producer at least for part of the year.

Bees can fly around 3-5 kilometers to forage and still produce a surplus.

They do need a source of clean water nearby, and of course must be isolated from areas where pesticides are used.

Theft is also a serious consideration, so locate your bee yards near people you trust or they may disappear!

I see honey selling very quickly to brokers at $20/ liter so a full depth langstroth super could have over $400 of honey in it!